Petertide call to prayer

To all members and friends of CEEC and the DEF’s.At this time of year we are in the important season of ordinations, a wonderful time in which affirmations and promises are made by ordinands in a public setting and at the start of significant ministerial leadership in the church of Jesus Christ. In writing to Timothy, Paul implores Timothy to live and teach in keeping with the gospel he has taught (1 Timothy 4:12-13) and indicates his never failing prayerful support for Timothy (2 Timothy 1:3). It is our conviction that the Church of England needs evangelicals to pray afresh, and with this Pauline commitment, for her leaders, and in particular for those who are called to ordained leadership and the public ministry of preaching and teaching. Before proceeding to ordain, the bishop is assured that the candidates have “affirmed and declared their belief in ‘the faith which is revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the catholic creeds and to which the historic formularies of the Church of England bear witness.” Here we see set out the Church of England’s vision of its calling to which we are fully committed as evangelical Anglicans. Yet there seems to be an increasingly large gap between the liturgy of ordination, both for deacons and priests, and the stance some take in their personal beliefs and public teaching. This is not a new development, but one which has been growing gradually over a number of years. Recently there have been a number of public pronouncements and actions that undermine or are a direct challenge to the authority of Holy Scripture and the faith revealed in it and expressed in the tradition and teaching of the Church of England. These include : 1.Calls for God to be referred to as 'she' which are a direct challenge to the revelation in the Scriptures that God has given of Himself, as Father and Son. God is neither male nor female and beyond human understanding of gender, but the inspired revelation we have received does not allow us the liberty to describe Him as Her, and any attempts to pray to God as our 'mother in heaven' are to be resisted. 2.A serving Bishop appearing in an employment tribunal to oppose a colleague who is upholding church teaching and discipline (which does not endorse same-sex marriage) and, in his testimony, describing the canonical definition of marriage as 'lousy'. 3.The endorsement of Gay Pride through a public prayer of blessing on the recent march outside the Minster Church of the Northern Province. 4.The Shared Conversations as constructed are revealing that the traditional view on same sex relationships is not held by a large proportion of the diocesan representatives and comes across as a minority view. The overarching question and theme for the Conversations is the church's response to the changes in our culture, and not a study of the provided texts and existing teaching of the Church of England. We are told that no particular outcome is expected or sought by these conversations, but the current position of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion, arising out of the plain meaning of the scriptural texts, appears to be poorly represented by the diocesan representatives and this is of real concern, as we had hoped for a proper conversation and engagement. Faced with the gap between these examples and the publically stated adherence of all clergy to the doctrinal base of the Church of England, we reaffirm and celebrate that base as the inheritance of the Church of England. We believe that all called into leadership should give and maintain their assent to it, and be guided by it, in their teaching and ministry. We therefore invite evangelicals in all the English Dioceses to renew a commitment to praying for those who lead God’s church. Please join with us in praying that He will enable those who preach and teach to do so in keeping with the faith as we have received it, not colluding in any way with an erosion of the Church of England’s theological framework, and offering the godly example of life to which Paul refers (1 Timothy 4:12). “O Almighty God, who by thy Son Jesus Christ didst give to thy Apostle Saint Peter many excellent gifts, and commandedst him earnestly to feed thy flock: Make, we beseech thee, all Bishops and Pastors diligently to preach thy Holy Word, and the people obediently to follow the same, that they may receive the crown of everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” Rt Rev Julian Henderson (President) Rev Hugh Palmer (Chair) Rev John Dunnett (Chair of the Working Group) Mr Stephen Hofmeyr (Acting Secretary) Rev George Curry (Treasurer)